


Don't Believe Everything You See

by StrongerWithThePack



Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Family, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:20:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26681278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrongerWithThePack/pseuds/StrongerWithThePack
Summary: The Hood is back with a new way to torment the Tracy Family. Is it really him or is there more to what meets the eye?
Kudos: 4





	Don't Believe Everything You See

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the Sensory Sunday Challenge gumnut-logic is organising on Tumblr. The weeks prompt is 'See'. It's set after Gordon's accident but before the Zero-XL. Hope you enjoy!

**Sensory Sunday: See**

Gordon groaned into his pillow at the sound of the claxon but jumped out of bed nonetheless. Glancing at the clock he calculated that he's barely gotten 3 hours of sleep and rubs his eyes tiredly. When he gets to the lounge Scott's already there with John. Virgil and Alan are still out on their own rescue. Gordon was usually Virgil's primary co-pilot but he'd been out on a solo rescue at an underwater research centre when the call had come in so Alan had taken his place.

Scott seemed to be arguing with John when he walked in. "-didn't have to wake him, I can handle it."

John glared. "You won't be able to use the autopilot on One in those winds Scott, this is a two man job."

John seemed to notice him then. "Sorry Gordon, I know you didn't get much sleep. You feel up to it?"

Gordon stretched his arms above his head and grinned. "Totally. I am well rested and raring to go."

He reckoned the statement was kind of ruined by the fact he was still in his pjs with bed-head but he tried his best.

Scott rolled his eyes at the statement as he made his way over to his chute. "Fine, suit-up Gordon but you are off duty for 12 hours minimum when we get back."

"Aye-aye captain" he said with a salute while running towards his elevator.

…

Scott briefed him on the situation while they flew. A climber had gotten his ropes tangled on the side of a cliff in the French Alps. He was caught on the rocks and had broken his leg when he'd been slammed into the side of the side of the cliff. Mountain Rescue couldn't get to him due to the growing wind in the area.

Gordon wondered how idiotic you had to be to scale a mountain at this time of year by yourself. That was like rule number one of rock climbing - always have a buddy. Hell, he wasn't even allowed to go rock climbing on Tracy Island without one of his brothers. It was just common sense.

Gordon rarely flew in Thunderbird One and it was crazy how quickly they got there. Don't get him wrong he loved Thunderbird Two but he had to admit he was impressed. Even if he had been pushed back into his seat by the G-forces the whole way.

Scott slowed as they reached their destination and John came on the line to direct them to the climbers location. With the reduced speed Gordon was able to stand up and prep for the rescue. He pulled on his helmet and strapped into a harness at the hatch of his brothers bird.

Scott voice sounded through his comm. "Okay Gordon I have sights on the climber, we're about as close as we're gonna get."

Gordon gave confirmation that he was ready and Scott opened the hatch. The wind was harsh as it roared through the opening. Thunderbird One was even swaying slightly as his brother fought to keep her still.

Gordon hooked Thunderbird One's grappling cable to his belt before taking out his own grappling gun. Scott could have shot One's grappling cable out on his own but in these winds there was too big a risk of hitting the climber. It was safer for Gordon to grapple across first and attach the bulkier line by hand.

He shot his grapple gun towards the top edge of the cliff, well above the climber, and grinned when it attached straight away.

"Oh yeah, got it in one." He boasted over the comms. "Heading out now."

He could practically _hear_ Scott's eye roll over the comm. "FAB Gordon."

Gordon braced himself and pulled the cord taunt before jumping down out of the hatch. He sailed across in a smooth arc through the piercing winds and bent his knees as he collided with the rock. He quickly found some hand-holds to steady himself and started making his way over to the climber who was a couple of metres to his right.

He knew John had been in contact with the climber but he called out anyway. "Hey there, heard you got yourself in a bit of trouble here."

The guy was pretty much flattened against the cliff, one leg hanging loosely while the other was bent up onto a foothold, trying to take some of his weight off of his ropes. His teeth were chattering and his cheeks were red and starting to blister.

 _Hypothermia._ Gordon thought grimly. The guy had been exposed to extreme icy winds for over an hour now. With the broken leg Gordon knew he could be dealing with shock as well

The guy did manage to give him a small smile that turned more into a grimace. "International Rescue." He said with a relived tone. "Boy am I glad to see you."

The guy was older than Gordon had expected but he could tell the man must have been a seasoned climber. He had all the right gear and looked to be in pretty good shape for his age. Kind of reminded Gordon of his dad.

Gordon smiled. "Let's see what we've got here." Gordon scanned the ropes and decided there was no use trying to salvage them. With the cold and the mans broken leg it would be better just to get the man secure and cut the ropes.

"We'll get that leg set as soon as we're inside Thunderbird One okay? Any other injuries?" Gordon asked as he attached another carabiner to the man harness, attaching the man to himself.

He looked up as the man shook his head. His heart stopped as he caught sight of something over the mans shoulder. Hardly 10 meters away was one of the chaos crews bombs. There was a blinking light that was steadily getting faster. _Dammit._

No time for taking it slow now. He quickly attached the man to one of the ziplines hanging from the line coming from Thunderbird One. His own line was already attached so he gave a quick yank of the line, making sure it was secure before all but pushing the man off the cliff yelling "GO!"

The man yelped as he was suddenly airborne and Gordon followed close behind. He winced as the mans broken leg slammed against Thunderbird One's interior as they made it inside but he didn't have time to do anything. He turned back and pressed the manual release of the grapple line to detach them from the mountain.

"What the hell Gordon!?" Scott's angry voice sounded over the comm. He'd basically broken every single safety procedure they had.

"Go Scott! Get away from the mountain! We're in." He yelled. There would be time for explanations when they were out of range of the blast zone. Gordon knew the damage one of Fuse's bombs could cause.

He knew Scott wanted to shout at him some more but he couldn't fault his brothers trust in him when they quickly flew away from the cliffside. The hatch started closing as Gordon helped get the man strapped into a seat. He didn't want to cause the guy any more damage if this thing exploded and rocked their ship.

Gordon realised if there was a bomb on the mountain, the chaos crew couldn't be far away. He didn't want to admit that thought made his heart beat a bit faster. The memories of his last encounter weren't going away anytime soon.

"Scott be careful, I think the chaos crew are in the area." He warned across the comm link.

"Dammit." Scott swore, his voice tinted with a growl. "John, can you see anything on the scanners."

"Nothing Scott." John was quick to reply. "They could have upgraded their cloaking technology though. EOS is running a more thorough scan."

"FAB, John. Why do you think they're here Gordon?"

"I saw one of their bombs on the mountain. It was about to blow."

John hummed across the line. "There haven't been any explosions in the area as far as I can see."

"Maybe it was one of those proximity bombs or something." Gordon theorised.

Johns answer was crisp. "I'll look into it."

Gordon couldn't help the unease he was feeling as he got himself back into the mindset of a rescuer and returned to helping the climber.

"Sorry about the rough landing." He tried to keep his voice light. "Let's take a look at that leg."

The man just nodded clearly still a bit shaken.

…

Gordon made his way back to the cockpit once they'd unloaded the climber to the local hospital. He gave the man a few choice words about not climbing alone in the future but from the pat on the shoulder and the _alright sonny_ he'd received, he was pretty sure it hadn't gone in.

He sat down heavily in the cockpit and once they were airborne Scott switched to autopilot and swivelled in his chair to face the younger man.

"Are you okay?" Scott eyed him wearily.

Gordon could understand the concern. That was his first encounter with anything hood-related since his accident.

"I'm fine, Scott."

At the pointed look he received he sighed. "Honestly, Scott, I am."

"Okay." Scott conceded. "Talk me through what happened."

When Gordon was done Scott gave him a confused look. "Why would the hood go to the trouble of placing a bomb and then not show up? Or even detonate it for that matter."

Gordon just shrugged. He'd been wondering the same thing. In fact, he was still wired up waiting for a surprise attack. Anywhere they found chaos crew tech, the chaos crew were never far away. And they _always_ showed up.

"Did the climber say anything?"

Gordon shook his head. "Said he didn't even see the bomb. Don't know how he missed it, it must've been right next to him for the whole hour he was there."

Scott frowned at that. Something just wasn't right here. "John notified the GDF, they're going to scout out the area in a few hours once the storm has passed."

Gordon just nodded at the statement. "Good."

…

Gordon woke up that afternoon feeling a lot better after a good 8 hours of sleep. Despite it being the early hours of the morning when they'd gotten back last night he'd had to do a pretty thorough debrief with Scott and he was practically falling asleep standing up by the time they'd finished.

He wandered through to the lounge with a towel hung over his shoulder. With all the stress yesterday, he really needed to get in some laps of the pool.

He found Scott at their fathers desk later in the day. "Hey Scott, any word from the GDF?"

"Yes and no." His brother replied cryptically with a sigh. Gordon caught the bags under his brothers eyes and knew Scott hadn't slept as well as he had. He had a worried afterthought that maybe Scott hadn't slept at all but John was usually on top of that.

Gordon rolled his eyes when his brother didn't continue. "Are you going to elaborate or..?"

Scott seemed to have forgotten he was there as he looked up from the computer again. He must be working on something. "Uh yeah sorry Gordo."

"The GDF combed the area but they couldn't find anything. Not a trace that someone had even been there let alone any tech from the chaos crew."

Gordon frowned and Scott eyed him wearily. "John's been monitoring the area as well and he hasn't found anything, not even a blip in the data…listen Gordon, are you 100% sure you saw something?"

Gordon could hear the reluctance in his brothers voice as he asked the question but it still stung a little. He became defensive. "Yes! It was there Scott."

Scott held up his hands in a placating manor, but Gordon felt it gave off more of a patronising feel. "Just a question Gords. The visibility wasn't great and it was a high stress situation, I'm just asking if you're sure."

Gordon frowned and actually took a second to think back. The visibility hadn't been great but he'd seen it! He couldn't have missed it with the red blinking lights counting down to his doom.

"I'm sure Scott." He said decisively.

Scott nodded at his statement. "We'll keep looking into it, if the hood has a new cloaking technology we need to know about it."

When Scott went back to typing away on his computer Gordon couldn't help but notice the slither of doubt present on his eldest brothers face. The pain he felt at the slight loss of trust was hard.

…

There was another call a few hours later. A cave-in, multiple groups of climbers scattered throughout the complex mining system. This was an all hands on deck sort of job, luckily Gordon had just passed the 12 hour mark since their last rescue.

He and Alan were burrowing into the East mining site on foot while Scott and Virgil took the West and Central sites respectively. There was only a short tiff from Alan about having to be babysat. If Gordon was honest, he was pretty sure it was himself who was being 'babysat' but he didn't let Alan know that.

Honestly, he quite enjoyed rescues with his baby brother. Alan was much easier to wind up than Virgil and much less dangerous to wind up than Scott. Don't even get started on the complex task that is winding up John. This was just some fun banter with his little brother who could definitely fire back as good as he got it.

"Y'know every time I look at you in your uniform it just reminds me of when you used to dress up as a power ranger." Gordon hummed as they walked. Alan's face turned thunderous and he knew he hit a good one.

"Maybe it's the shoulder pads" he continued musing as he placed a hand on his chin in mock contemplation. "Oooor" he drawled out. "It's just the fact that you're still a little sprout with a babyface."

Alan glared at him.

"Grandma says I'm going to grow taller than you." His little brother huffed, sticking out his tongue at the end just to add to Gordon's enjoyment of the childish statement.

"Oh definitely." He nodded back. "Going to go from a baby sprout to a bean sprout just like Johnny. Maybe you'll get the bad coordination to go with it."

"I can hear you, you know Gordon." John lectured through his watch.

Gordon at least had the grace to give a sheepish look at his space-bound brother.

"Sorry Johnny." He grinned with basically no conviction behind the words.

"Mmm-hmm" John shot back.

Alan turned around, giving him a sickly-sweet smile. "You know, we all know you're just overcompensating for your _own_ height. Too bad you can't grow out of that one."

With the cheesy grin on his brothers face Gordon knew he thought he'd got him with that one. Gordon couldn't give him the satisfaction.

"I'll have you know I am very comfortable with- ALAN MOVE!"

All Alan had time to do was widen his eyes in panic and start to turn to glance over his shoulder before Gordon grabbed his brother and forcibly shove him behind him. Alan wasn't ready for that though and lost his footing, taking Gordon down with him.

Alan cried out as they landed hard on the ground and Gordon panicked, thinking it had got him. He looked around wildly but saw nothing. The needed to move.

"What the hell Gordon!?" He heard Alan grunt out.

He practically full-on lifted his brother off the ground in his hurry to get out of there and he didn't miss his Alans hiss of pain as he cradled his wrist to his chest. He mentally stored that information away for later and gave his brother a light push back towards the way they'd come.

"Run."

"What's going on Gordon?" John questioned with a hint of stress behind his words.

They were still running as Gordon answered, keeping Alan in front of him and glancing back frantically to make sure nothing was following them.

"A mecha tried to attacked Alan!"

"A mecha? The Mechanic is in custody Gordon, it couldn't have been a mecha."

"Well considering one almost just electrocuted Alan, I think you might want to double check that Johnny." He huffed out.

"FAB Gordon, I'll inform Scott and Virgil."

Gordon didn't let them stop running until the broke out into the sunlight again. Both him and Alan took a second to pant as they regained their breath. Gordon focused on his little brothers' wrist immediately which he still held cradled to his chest.

"You okay?" he asked.

Alan grimaced. "Think I sprained my wrist."

 _You mean you think_ I _sprained your wrist._ Gordon thought darkly as he recalled pushing his brother to the floor.

"Let get it wrapped in Two." He sighed.

Virgil came running up to them then.

"What the hell happened?" Virgil exclaimed, seemingly trying to assess both his brothers simultaneously as his head pinballed between them almost comically.

"There are mechas in the tunnels!" Gordon told his brother worriedly. "Where's Scott?"

"He's on his way out with a group of miners." Vigil hyper-focused onto Alan's wrist as Gordon internally winced at the fact that him and Alan had abandoned the miners they were supposed to rescue.

"The mecha did this?" Virgil questioned Alan as he turned his brother's wrist over gently.

"Uh, well not exactly." Alan said sheepishly, looking at Gordon apologetically. "Gordon push me out of the way, and I fell on it."

"Sorry Al." Gordon said sincerely.

Alan waved him off, but Gordon still felt bad.

…

Scott joined them while they were in Two's medbay. Alan sat on one of the pull-out beds, wrist wrapped tightly and had taken a couple of mild painkillers to chase away the ache.

Gordon startled as Scott came storming into the room.

"Mechas!? I thought we were done with those! What's going on?"

John popped up then, like he always did when answers were needed. "I've spoken to the GDF, they've confirmed The Mechanic is still in custody."

"So, the hood is using mechas now? Or the chaos crew?" Scott questioned, running a hand through his hair stiffly. Gordon could practically see them turning grey on the spot.

"It doesn't make any sense, but I don't have any answers right now." John said with a frown. It wasn't often John couldn't provide the answers and Gordon knew it made him uncomfortable.

"There's something else." John said wearily. "I'm still not picking up any signs of any hostiles in the area."

"What are you saying John?" Scott prodded.

"I should be picking up something on my scanners Scott. Even if the chaos crew aren't here I should be able to pick up the mechas, I've always been able to in the past. There's just nothing."

Scott sighed. "FAB John, just keep looking."

John pursed his lips as if he wanted to say something else but signed off nonetheless.

"We need to go back in to get the last group of climbers." Scott said wearily.

Gordon started. "The GDF-"

"-won't get here before this whole tunnelling system collapses" Scott countered quickly.

"How many mechas did you see?" Virgil queried from the side.

"Just the one." Gordon answered.

"Alan?"

Alan looked like a deer caught in headlights as he looked between Virgil and Gordon. "Well to be honest, I didn't see any."

Scott's brow furrowed at that one.

"Wait what? You didn't see anything Alan?" Scott questioned.

"Uh no. Gordon pushed me down before I could look."

Scott and Virgil shared a look and Gordon felt anger bubble up from within him, they'd clearly talked about this.

"Don't act like I'm not here, I know what you're thinking Scott." Gordon growled. "I know what I saw."

"I'm not saying anything." Scott tried to diffuse.

There was a beat of tense silence before Scott frowned and headed over to the supply cupboards, taking out some clips to reload his grapple. The silence as he did so was deafening.

Scott put his field commander persona back in place as he continued. "Okay. Virgil, you come with me to get the last group of miners."

"I can come too." Gordon tried. "Safety in numbers and all that."

"I want you to stay with Alan" Scott said firmly in his Commander voice. Gordon knew that meant there was no room for argument."

"Fine." He said in a huffy voice, sitting back down in a chair.

Scott and Virgil made to leave.

"Just- " Gordon started, stopping them. "-be careful okay?"

"FAB" Scott replied grimly as he and Virgil went back out towards the caves.

…

Scott and Virgil had retrieved the miners with no problems. Gordon had kind of been hoping they'd come across some trace of the Hood. He realised guiltily that he'd subconsciously been hoping his brothers would find trouble. He was glad they were safe but it would've been nice to have someone to backup his claims.

The trip back to the island had been pretty quiet but now was time for debrief. Gordon headed to the lounge once he'd showered and changed. He hovered in the doorway when he heard hushed angry voices in the lounge.

"What if it's PTSD or something?" Scott whispered not-so-quietly.

"He's not shown any other signs, you're jumping to conclusions Scott." That was Virgil.

"He hurt Alan! If he's seeing things it could be dangerous."

"No need to whisper fellas." Gordon decided to announce his presence. "The whole island can hear you."

"Gordon- " Scott started, having the grace to look at least slightly guilty.

"It's fine." Gordon huffed as he sat down on the couch.

They waited in silence for Alan who ran in a few minutes later grinning sheepishly as Virgil glared at the damp bandages around his wrist. He was supposed to keep them dry. Gordon reckoned a trip to the infirmary was in line for his little brother once they were finished.

John popped up on cue as always and they started the debriefing. Scott talked through the actual rescue and then Gordon gave yet another account of what he saw in the mines. Albeit a much more detailed version while he was practically playing 20 questions with John and Scott. He felt like they were trying to poke holes in his story, but he tried to keep calm.

"Yeah like I said, it climbed up the wall behind Alan and pounced at him with the taser arm thing extended."

"What was the visibility like?" Scott questioned further.

"Pretty dark but we both had our torches on and it's kind of hard to miss a sparking spider monster in the dark Scott." Gordon added a hint of sarcasm into his voice.

"I think Gordon's told us enough Scott." Virgil reasoned, always playing buffer between him and Scott.

John stepped in to give his report. "The GDF haven't found anything in the area. And I still haven't found anything either."

John sounded like he was getting frustrated with himself.

"So, you pushed Alan down and it just disappeared?"

Apparently, Scott wasn't done with his 20 questions yet.

Gordon sighed. To be honest this was the part that was bothering him as well. "Yeah, it's weird when I knocked Alan out of the way I was sure I was in it's path."

He contemplated for a second before continuing. "I could've sworn the taser arm touched me before I fell too but I didn't feel anything. Then I lost sight of it when I fell."

He felt like the memory was becoming a lot clearer to him and he was finally noticing all the things that just didn't add up.

"Come to think of it, I didn't hear it land either." Gordon knew he wasn't exactly helping his story here, but he was just trying to be honest. "Those things are huge; it should have crashed to the ground."

Everyone was staring at him now, Scott with worry, John with curiosity and confusion from both Alan and Virgil.

"What are you saying Gordon?" Scott asked gently, almost tactically.

Gordon was frustrated with this whole thing. "I don't know okay! Something weird is going on."

Scott spoke again, even more gently. "Listen Gordon, you've been through a very stressful situation when it comes to the Hood, you can tell us if you think you're seeing things that aren't there."

"I know what I saw Scott!"

The concern in Scott's eyes practically burned into his soul as his brother continued. "Paranoia is common in cases of PTSD, there's nothing to be ashamed of."

Gordon scowled, scrunching his fists into the couch. "I'm not crazy Scott! Why can't you just trust me!?"

"Well give me another answer for what's happening then Gordon." Scott shot back.

"I don't know! But I know what I saw Scott!" Gordon exclaimed jumping up from the couch. All his brothers were looking at him with worried looks now and Gordon felt tears brimming at the edges of his eyes. "Why won't you guys believe me?"

He knew he must be looking a bit crazy now but the problem was he was beginning to doubt himself as well. What if he hadn't seen anything? Alan should have been able to see the mecha if it had been there. The climber should have noticed the bomb as well. John should have been able to pick up everything on his scanners and the GDF should have found the tech at the rescue sites.

He knows what he saw. But what if he can't trust what he's seeing anymore. Maybe he _is_ imagining things. And then the worst possible thing happens. He sees a mecha on the ceiling in the corner of the living room. It just looks so unnatural in this setting that he cracks.

He sits back down heavily on the sofa and presses the heels of his hands into his head. "I don't know what's happening." He whispers.

He looks back up at the ceiling and the mecha he thought he'd seen has vanished, leaving just the dark shadows of the corner. He _is_ seeing things. His tears finally start to fall.

With tears streaming down his cheeks and panicky breaths coming from his lungs he's not surprised when Virgil is suddenly there, kneeling down in front of him and placing hands on his shoulders.

"Just breathe Gordo. In and Out." His brother deepens his own breathing, encouraging Gordon to imitate him. Gordon does and it gives him enough breath to let out a half-muffled sob. Virgil wraps his arms around him, and Gordon has to admit, he immediately feels slightly better. Virgil's hugs are magic like that sometimes.

"You're not crazy Gordon." Virgil assures as he squeezes just a bit tighter. "We're going to figure this out."

Gordon sniffs, raising his own arms with a shuddering breath and hugs his brother back before tensing as his eyes catch movement on the table. He sucks in a sharp breath as his eyes watch the mecha. _It's not real. It's not real._

But then Scott's guilt-ridden eyes catch his own and follow his gaze. Gordon does not expect it when Scott's eyes also widen in horror and he back-peddles away from the table so fast he almost trips.

"Holy- "

Gordon pushes Virgil off him in shock, pulling his brother up with him as he backs away, he sees Alan doing the same thing to his left. "You- you can see that?"

Scott just nods as Virgil gapes beside him.

"YES!" Gordon exclaims happily before quickly realising this is not much better of a situation. The glares he receives from his brothers prove as much.

"Sorry, sorry. Just revelling in the fact that I'm not actually going insane." He tries to say it as a joke but his voice cracks half way though and his hands are still shaking slightly. "But I get it. New problem."

"Why isn't it doing anything?" Alan asks quietly and Gordon motions for his little brother to come and stand closer to him and Virgil.

"How did it even manage to get on the island?" Scott asked in bewilderment. Gordon could see the tension running through his eldest brothers body. This was their home, they were suppose to be safe here.

John's hologram was still hovering above the table that it was standing on and a stupid part of Gordons brain was scared at his brothers supposed proximity to it. His space-bound brother was furiously typing on his keyboard with a deep frown etched onto his face.

"I don't understand." John exclaimed. "It's not on any of my scanners, it shouldn't exist!"

One of John's hands was pulling at his hair and Gordon wondered briefly if his brother was feeling the same amount of crazy as he had just moments earlier. Well probably not the same amount, Gordon was pretty sure he'd fallen down the rabbit hole for a few minutes.

"Well I'm looking at it with my own two eyes Johnny so I can confirm it does exist." Scott shot back.

Gordon couldn't help himself.

"Sure you're not seeing things Scott?"

"Not the time Gordon." Scott grunted.

And then more of them scuttered in through the door. Another six to be precise. They scattered as they came in, covering the room.

"Dammit." Scott swore. "Where's Kayo?"

"She's not on the island Scott." John answered grimly. "I've called her back in but she'll be at least another half an hour."

"Grandma and Brains?"

"Locked in Brains' lab, they're aware of the situation."

Scott nodded. "Good."

Gordon felt Alan pushing in closer to him and peered over, noticing one of them slowly creeping towards his baby brother.

"What do we do Scott?" Gordon asked. He knew it was cruel of him to put this on his eldest brother, but he was just so used to Scott having all the answers.

"Try and get to the balcony. We can lock them inside."

Gordon grabbed a pillow off the coach before retreating backwards towards the balcony. The mechas just seemed to stare at them as they went and Gordon thought they were going to get away easily before one started skittering towards him at a fast pace. He did the only thing he could do and threw the pillow he was holding with deadly accuracy…only to watch it soar right through the mecha.

_What?_

The one he'd hit seemed to shimmer slightly before reforming.

"They're holograms!" Gordon exclaimed.

"Of course!" John gasped, a little too excitedly. "That's why I wasn't picking up any signals or thermals from them."

"And why they never made any noise in the cave!" Gordon added.

Scott looked dumbfounded. "But why? Why go to all this trouble?"

It was then a low laugh sounded through the room and the mechas vanished, leaving behind a very realistic looking Hood.

"For fun Mr. Tracy"

Gordon scowled at the familiar voice.

"Hood." Scott replied darkly. "Whatever your plan was it didn't work, we've figured out your game."

The Hood laughed under his breath, filling Gordon with unease. He even threw another pillow at the projection just to make sure he wasn't the real thing. Thankfullt, it soared through harmlessly again.

"Knowing about them doesn't reduce the impact Mr. Tracy. I have hundreds of microscopic projectors on your property now. They're tiny and sophisticatedly cloaked, you'll never find them all."

Scott scowled, glaring at the man as he continued. "Let's see how well you get on when you can't even trust your own eyes."

The man gave a roaring final laugh before signing off.

The brothers looked at each other with grim expressions. How were they going to get through this one?

**Maybe tbc? I make no promises.**


End file.
